Authorities Arrest Man in Idaho in Terrorism Case

Federal authorities in Idaho said Thursday they have arrested an Uzbekistan national accused of conspiring with a designated terrorist organization in his home country and helping scheme to use a weapon of mass destruction.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Fazliddin Kurbanov, 30, was arrested at an apartment complex in south Boise on Thursday morning after a grand jury issued a three-count indictment as part of an investigation into his activities in Idaho and Utah.

{snip} The indictment also alleges he possessed an unregistered explosive device.

A separate federal grand jury in Utah also returned an indictment charging Kurbanov with distributing information about explosives, bombs and weapons of mass destruction.

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Wendy Olson, the U.S. attorney in Idaho, said Kurbanov is the only person charged, and any potential threat was contained by his arrest.

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A news release from the U.S. attorney’s office said Kurbanov is in the United States legally, but Olson declined to give details about his immigration status.

It was unclear when he moved to Idaho or the extent of his activities in Utah. {snip}

The Idaho indictment alleges that between August 2012 and May 2013, Kurbanov knowingly conspired with others to provide support and resources, including computer software and money, to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a designated terrorist organization. The group’s purpose is to overthrow the government of Uzbekistan, said David B. Barlow, U.S. attorney in Utah.

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In count two, the indictment alleges Kurbanov provided material support to terrorists, knowing that the help was to be used in preparation for a plot involving the use of a weapon of mass destruction.

The indictment also alleges that on Nov. 15, 2012, Kurbanov possessed an explosive device, consisting of a series of parts intended to be converted into a bomb. Those parts included a hollow hand grenade, a hobby fuse, aluminum powder, potassium nitrate and sulfur.

Meanwhile, in Utah, federal investigators said that for a 10-day period in January 2013, Kurbanov taught and demonstrated how to make an “explosive, destructive device, and weapon of mass destruction.”

The grand jury alleges that Kurbanov provided written recipes for how to make improvised explosive devices and went on instructional shopping trips in Utah showing what items are necessary to buy to make the devices, Barlow said. Kurbanov also showed Internet videos on the topic, Barlow said.

The prosecutor declined to say whom Kurbanov took on the shopping trips in Utah but said that information will come out as the case moves through the courts.

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